Tag: Elizabeth Peters is always making jokes at the expense of young lovers who cry “darling!” at each other at the end of mystery novels

The beginning: Inexplicably invited to an acquaintance’s family home for two weeks, Julian Kestrel finds himself caught in an angry, awkward mess of family feuding. The situation only gets worse from there, as Julian comes back to his room one day to find a dead girl lying on his bed. The end (skip this section if you don’t want the spoilers): Ah, there’s a last-minute tacked-on secret to be revealed. Glorious. I love it when an author does that. You thought you were done with all the mysteries, but no, there is another one to be had! Barbara Vine does…